Derek McNally (1934–2020) was a British astronomer and former General Secretary of the IAU.
Derek McNally was born on 28 October[citation needed] 1934 inBelfast, Northern Ireland.[1]
He studied for aBachelor of Science atQueen's University Belfast, graduating in 1956. This was followed by aMaster of Science[1] in 1957.[citation needed] Although initially interested innuclear physics, during his Masters he read a book byFred Hoyle that changed his interest to astronomy. He subsequently studied for aPhD at theRoyal Holloway College, from which he graduated in 1961.[1]
He was an assistant lecturer in Mathematics atRoyal Holloway College[1] from 1959 until 1960,[citation needed] during his PhD.[1] After graduating from his PhD, he moved to theUniversity College London,[1] where he was an assistant lecturer (1960–1962), lecturer (1962–1970), and senior lecturer (1970–1999). He was assistant director of the University of London Observatory (1966–1989) and subsequently became Director from 1989 to 1997.[citation needed]
He was Chairman of theInternational Astronomical Union Working Group on Adverse Environmental Impacts on Astronomy (1997–2000). He was visiting fellow at theUniversity of Hertfordshire since 1999. He became Chairman of the International Council of Scientific Unions Working Group on Adverse Environmental Impacts on Astronomy from 1993 till 1997.[citation needed]
He was Secretary of theRoyal Astronomical Society (1966–1971), then Vice President (1971–1972) and Treasurer in 1996.[citation needed]
At theInternational Astronomical Union, he was the Assistant General Secretary of the Executive Committee in 1985–88, before serving as the General Secretary of the Executive Committee in 1988–91.[2] He attended all IAU conferences between 1964 and 2006.[3]
He was general secretary of theInstitute of Physics from 1988–1991.[citation needed]
From 1981 to 1983 he held the office of President of the Junior Astronomical Society, the name of which changed in 1994 to theSociety for Popular Astronomy.
He initially researchedpositional astronomy, before changing tostar formation due to the advent ofdigital computers.[1]
He died in 2020.[1]
